Drill motion synchronizer and shock absorber



Jan. 10, 1950 G. R. WATSON 2,494,020.

DRILL MOTION SYNCHRONIZER AND SHOCK ABSORBER Filed June 10, 194'? 5 Sheets-Sheet l IN VEN TOR. GEORGE R. WATSON Jan. 10, 1950 G. R. WATSON 2,494,020

' DRILL. MOTION SYNCHRONIZER AND SHOCK ABSORBER Filed June 10, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

H 1 1. l 1 "I In GEORGE R. WATSON AT; ORNE).

G. R. WATSON 2,494,020

DRILL MOTION SYNCHRONIZER AND SHOCK ABSORBER Jan. 10, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 10, 1947 v INVENTOR. GEORGE R. WATSON BY ATT fP/VFK Patented Jan. 10, 1950 DRILL MOTION SYNCHRONIZER AND SHOCK ABSORBER George R. Watson, Waukegan, Ill., assignor to James E. Watson, Signal Mountain, Tenn.

Application June 10, 1947, Serial No. 753,753 4. Claims. (Cl. 25516) My invention relates to drill motion synchronizers and shock absorbers for well drilling machines.

It is common art to construct a well drilling machine in a manner to employ a cable for suspending the drill. This cable is usually constructed of a plurality of steel strands consisting of individual wires, and these strands are twisted around a hemp center.

The construction of a well drilling machine incorporates a crown sheave supported at the upper end of a derrick and a cable attached to a metal drum supported by the framework of the drilling machine is led over the top of the crown sheave and down to the drill holder, referred to as a drilling tool. The steel wire comprising the drilling cable is a metallic path throughwhich vibration and shock of impact is transmitted to the entire frame of the derrick and to the actuating means of the unit. This shock and vibration oi impact of the drilling tool on hard rock at the bottom of the hole being drilled, is very destructive and it travels back to the frame of the derrick and the mechanism mounted thereon. It is my object to provide a meansof cushioning this impact and provide -a shock absorbing feature.

It is imperative that a shock absorbing device of this nature should absorb the greatest impact,

inasmuch as lesser impact'will obviously be taken care of if the greater impact is cushioned, it is also manifest that the variation of shock due to the variation of the impact, would necessitate a means of adjusting this cushioning or shock absorbing device.

Another object of my invention is to permit the motion of all cable ,tools to follow through,

vices employ springs and other rubber cushions or air cylinders, so that steel. cable may be employed and the minimum of shock imparted to the well drilling equipment. The capacity, however, of these shock absorbing devices is, not variable while in operation to suit the existing changes and conditions in the drill hole when the drill hits various substances such as hard rock or soft rock, clay or sand, heavy or light consistency of sludge, a greater depth of hole, heavy or light drill tools or the like. The device described herein permits adjustment for varied conditions as outlined above and will provide a highly efiicient device that is easily adjusted and controlled while the device is in operation, when the conditions of impact vary, and for the varied weights of drill tools.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a device of the character described that employs low pressure air, compressed and expanded by a piston in a cylinder, and means for regulating the air at low pressure to take care of varied conditions without the necessity and the use of heavy cylinders and pistons, in combination with .high pressure air, which admittedly is difficult to control and maintain and requires heavy equipment.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a device that incorporates the use of a plurality of hydraulically operated pistons and cylinders to carry the heavy load, in combination with a low pressure cylinder and piston, made adjustable to accommodate the requirements over 'a wide variation of capacity.

Other and further objects of my invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds and when taken in conjunction with the drawing in which Figure 1 shows a conventional derrick arrangement employing a spudding beam operated by a spudding gear, and actuating the cable which is disposed on a drum and over a crown sheave at the top of the derrick and showing the crown sheave supported by the drill motion synchronizer and shock absorbing means.

Figure 2 is a side view of the crown sheave and its mounting, and shows the drill motion synchronizer as inserted between the derrick arrangement and the sheave.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the drill motion synchronizing device showing the arrangement of the plurality of pistons and cylinders and also the air pump for supplying the air pressure within the lower cylinder.

Figure 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional arrangement of the plurality of pistons and cylinders, showing the arrangement employed for maintaining a low pressure air within the lower cylinder, with the stroke in a neutral position, and

Figure 5 is a similar view as shown in Figure 4, showing the device with the pressure downwardly disposed.

As the spudding beam [5 is brought upward and downward, it will carry the cable l9 shown mounted on a drum and would cause the cable l9 to be moved to raise and lower the drill bit shown as 2| supported by the steel drill cable l9 attached to a drilling tool 22.

The drill motion synchronizer and shock absorber U described herein, consists of a crown sheave 12 supported by a sheave housing 23 which rests on a rubber shock absorber '24, which is a part of and rests on the top of an upper piston shown as 25, which is slidably supported within an upper cylinder 26. This upper piston 25 is filled with oil for lubrication shown as 2'! and is provided at its upper end with a threaded plug 28 and at its lower face by a threaded plug 29. i

There is an intermediate piston shown as 30 disposed within the intermediate flanged cylinder 3| and this cylinder 3| is suspended centrally withina lower cylinder 33 which is closed at its lower endby means of the flange plate shown as 34 forming an air chamber 35. The upper piston 25 as well as the intermediate piston 30 operate in oil, the oil level for lubrication within the upper portion of the lower piston 32 is maintained to a point 36 where a filler plug 31 is threadedly placed within the cylinder wall. The flangeplate 34 at the bottom of the air chamber is supported by means of the derrick 10' and the flange 34 is provided with an air line 38 which extends toward the bottom of the derrick l0 and'which is provided with an air pump 39 which is manually operated by hand, and a check valve 40 is placed within the air line 38 leading fromthe pump 39 to the air chamber 35. This air line 38 is also provided with a gauge shown as 4| and an air line bleeder valve 42 at the bottom of the air line 38.

Byreferring to Figures 4 and 5 it will be noted that when the upper piston 25 is forced downward it will compress the oil in the upper cylinder 26 in the space 43 and will force the intermediate piston 30 downward, forcing the lower piston 32 downward and reducing the area of the air chamber 35, thereby increasing the pressure of the air within the air chamber 35.

Obviously, the intermediate piston 30 would be of a diameter much smaller than the diameter of the upper piston 25, thereby transferring only a small portion of the extremely heavy loads, and the air cushion 35 with relatively low air pressure, due to the compound ratio of the piston areas will readily absorb the load.

The top piston 25 carries the heavy load with relatively short travel to displace the oil 43 in the cylinder 26. The intermediate piston 30 of much smaller area is forced to travel a greater distance while transmitting a lesser pressure force against the lower piston 32.

By regulating the relatively low air pressure within the air chamber 35 disposed within the lower cylinder 33 the compounded pressure in the top oil cylinder 26 may be greatly increased 20 carry extremely heavy loads on the top piston The change of initial pressure in the air cylinder 33 may be manually operated by means of the pump 39 or by air pressure from other sources. It may be noted that a small volume of air is required to adjust the pressure in the lower cylinder 33 as there should be no dissipation of air, and the loss by leakage should be very small at low pressure as compared to high pressure which is at present shown employed inthe-prior art. 7

It is expected under actual working loads the pressure in the top oil cylinder 26 may reach a maximum of three hundred pounds per square inch while the corresponding air pressure in the air chamber 35 of the lower cylinder 33 may be sixty pounds to the square inch and it is this means of varying the air within the air chamber 35 which will change the elastic capacity to suit the force of the impact according to its requirement.

In the chosen embodiments of my invention there are present many features not heretofore revealed in the prior art, and although I have specifically described and shown a particular arrangement of the component parts constituting the device. I am fully cognizant of the fact that many changes in the form and configuration and arrangement of the various parts may be made without effectin their operativeness, and I reserve the right to make such changes as I may deem necessary or convenient without departing from the. spirit. of my invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Having 'thus described by invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent in the United'states' is:

1.? A device of the character described'in combination with anactuatingwell drilling unit, said device comprising a crown sheave journaled within a housing, said housing slidably mounted ,within channels and supported by an 'upper piston, said upper piston slidably engaging an upper cylinder open at its upper. and lower ends, an intermediate cylinder open at its upper and lower ends, alower cylinder, all of said cylinders in alignment with and attached to one another, said lower cylinder providedwith a closing plate,.said intermediate cylinder extending downward into said lower cylinder, an intermediate piston slidably supported by said intermediate cylinder, a lower piston open at its top, said intermediate cylinder extending into the open end of said lower piston, said upper piston supported by a liquid means within said cylinder, means for supplying compressedv air within said lower cylinder below said lower piston for supporting said, intermediate and lower pistons, and means for controlling the air pressure within said lower cylinder.

2. A device of the character described comprising a unit to be used in combination with an actuated well drilling unit, said device having a crown sheave iournal'edwithin a housing, said housing slidably mounted within channels, and supported by an upper piston, a resilient pad disposed between said housing and said upper piston, said upper piston slidably'engaging an upper cylinder open at its upper and lower end, an intermediate cylinder open at its upper and lower ends, a lower cylinder, all of said cylinders attached to one another and in alignment with one another and supported by said drilling unit, said lower cylinder provided with a closing plate at its open lower end, said intermediate cylinder extending downward into said lower cylinder, an intermediate piston slidably supported by said intermediate cylinder, a lower piston open at its top, said intermediate cylinder extending into the open end of said lower piston, said upper piston supported by liquid means within said cylinders, means for supplying compressed air within said lower cylinder below said lower piston, for supporting said intermediate and lower pistons and means for controlling the air pressure in said lower cylinder.

3. A device of the character described to be used in combination with an actuated well drilling unit, said device comprising a crown sheave journaled with a housing, said housing slidably supported between channels within said well drilling unit and supported by an upper piston, a resilient pad disposed between said upper piston and said sheave housing, said upper piston slidably engaging an upper cylinder open at its upper and lower ends, an intermediate cylinder open at its upper and lower ends, a lower cylinder, all of said cylinders attached in alignment to one another and supported by said drilling unit, said lower cylinder provided with a closing plate at its lower end, said intermediate cylinder extending down within said lower cylinder, an intermediate piston slidably supported by said intermediate cylinder, a lower piston open at its top, said intermediate piston of a smaller diameter than said upper piston, said intermediate cylinder extending into the open end of said lower piston and having its outer diameter smaller than the diameter of said lower piston, said upper piston supported by liquid means within said cylinders, means for supplying compressed air within said lower cylinder below said lower piston. for supporting said intermediate and lower pistons and means for controlling the air pressure within said lower cylinder.

4. A device of the character described to be used in combination with an actuated well drilling unit, said device comprising in combination a crown sheave journaled within a housing, said housing slidably mounted within channels and supported by an upper piston, a resilient pad disposed between said piston and the sheave housing, said upper piston slidably engaging an upper cylinder, open at its upper and lower end, an intermediate cylinder open at its upper and lower end, a lower cylinder, all of said cylinders attached to one another and supported by said drilling unit, said lower cylinder provided with a closing plate at its open lower end, said intermediate cylinder extending downward into said lower cylinder, an intermediate piston slidably supported by said intermediate cylinder, a lower piston open at its top, said intermediate piston of a smallerdiameter than said upper piston, an intermediate cylinder extending into the open end of said lower piston and having its outer diameter smaller than the inner diameter of said lower piston, said upper piston supported by liquid means within said cylinders, an air pump, said air pump providing means for supplying compressed air within said lower cylinder below said lower piston for supporting said intermediate and lower piston, and valve means controlling the air pressure within said lower cylinder between said closing plates and the bottom of said lower piston. GEORGE R. WATSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Underwood Nov. 13, 1945 

